Yoane Wissa speaks out about having Nick Woltemade fighting for his spot at Newcastle United
Eddie Howe's dream of having two top-quality players for each position in his Newcastle United squad is closer than ever to becoming a reality after what ended up being a decent summer transfer window.
While there was massive frustration all through the summer with the speed at which Newcastle's recruitment team operated, not to mention how many targets we watched slip away (let's not talk about a certain rodent and the mess he caused), the Magpies ended the window with a much stronger squad than when they started.
There were several areas that needed strengthening, and they all were. You could argue that we are weaker in the striker department despite bringing in two new centre-forwards by virtue of the players that left, but time will tell on that one.
Indeed, we back Nick Woltemade 100% to become the star that he looks destined to be, while Yoane Wissa has proven himself at this level for a while now.
Yoane Wissa was impressed by Nick Woltemade at the U21 European Championships
We're yet to see what our new number 9, Wissa, can bring to the table after he picked up an injury on international duty.
Everyone had expected Wissa to be the first-choice striker for a while as Woltemade got used to the Premier League, but Wissa's injury threw a spanner in the works, and now the DR Congo forward may have to fight for his place if the German striker can make that centre-forward spot his own.
However, Wissa is completely comfortable with that as he knows that it's a team game. The 29-year-old was interviewed for the Matchday Programme, where he said he watched Woltemade at the U21s Euros and commented on how good he was.
Yoane Wissa is looking forward to the fight for places at Newcastle
Wissa is hoping to be back for Eddie Howe's consideration after the next international break, with the game against Brighton having been pencilled in as a potential debut date, but for now, Wissa is happy to see his counterpart doing what he's doing.
“I watched a couple of his games at the (under-21s) Euros this summer and I spoke to my former teammate Vitaly Janelt and said ‘He's good, this guy’, which he agreed.
“I think he's a good player who is able to play anywhere because he's very skilful. When you come to a big club, there is always competition and we need to be able to push each other and make sure we are in the best position as a team.
“We want to achieve success as a team. It's not about individual players. I'm happy to have another great player joining the club as we have more chance of winning.”
